Somali Islamists maintain aid ban and deny famine
Many Somali mothers have already seen their children die in the droughtSomalia's al-Shabab Islamists have denied lifting their ban on Western aid agencies and say UN reports of famine are "sheer propaganda".
The UN on Wednesday said that parts of Somalia were suffering a famine after the worst drought in 60 years.
A spokesman for al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaeda and controls much of the country, accused aid groups of being political.
Most Western aid agencies quit Somalia in 2009 following al-Shabab threats.
The United Nations World Food Programme was one of those banned.
It says it is planning to airlift food into the capital, Mogadishu, in the coming days to help the thousands of malnourished children who face starvation in the country.
Some 10 million people are said to need food aid across East Africa but Somalia is by far the worst affected country, as there is no national government to co-ordinate aid after two decades of fighting.
Blame gameThe two districts where a famine has been declared - Bakool and Lower Shabelle - are under al-Shabab control and aid agencies have been wary of resuming activities there amid fears for the safety of their staff.
Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage earlier this month announced that aid agencies, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, would be allowed back into Somalia as long as they had "no hidden agenda".
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This had prompted the US to say it was lifting its ban on allowing its food relief into areas controlled by al-Shabab, which it calls a terrorist group.
However, Mr Rage told journalists in Mogadishu on Thursday night: "The agencies we banned are still banned. The agencies were involved in political activities."
He admitted there was a drought but said reports of a famine were "utter nonsense, 100% baseless and sheer propaganda".
"There is drought in Somalia and shortage of rain but it is not as bad as they put it."
Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group think-tank, told Reuters news agency that al-Shabab were trying to avoid being "seen as people who oversaw a large-scale humanitarian disaster".
More than 166,000 desperate Somalis are estimated to have fled their country to neighbouring Kenya or Ethiopia.
On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said $300m (£184m) was needed in the next two months to provide an adequate response to the areas affected by famine.
"Children and adults are dying at an appalling rate," he said.
Nearly half the Somali population - 3.7 million people - were in crisis, he said, with most of them in the south.
These are mostly areas under al-Shabab control.
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bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14246764
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